Once again, thank you for your great post!

Three additonal knife points. One, for safety’s sake keep your knives sharp. The risk of a dullish knife slipping off the food and cutting you is much greater than a sharp knife brushing your fingers and cutting you. Two, knives labeled “ever sharp” or “never needs sharpening” can’t be sharpened. They get dull and stay dull. My recommendation is to buy two inexpensive knives to start with. Three, if you decide you’ll keep on cooking, upgrade your knives as soon as you can. A good chef’s knife costs $70-120, a good paring knife $20-30. They will last you decades even if you abuse them.

That the only purpose of a cutting board is to protect your counters, is not true. (Sorry.) A cutting board also protects your knives. The least expensive good option is an opaque plastic one. Wood is also good, clear plastic terrible (they chip the knife edge).

I’d add to your list a set of measuring cups & measuring spoons, a silicon spatula (the kind resistant to high heat), and a mesh colander. The colander can be a colander, a sifter, a steamer basket (prop it on a tuna fish can).

A lot of the list can be found at Goodwill. Actually, just about anything but the appliances, knives, and (maybe) blender.

The final thing I’d get is a how-to-cook video from the library/netflix. Jacques Pepin had a great series, but there are so many out there.

One comment about the box grater: Make sure it is big enough to fit your hand inside when you want to clean it otherwise they can be a real big pain in the neck to clean.

There is, unfortunately, a lot of confusion about the word “radiation”. The word has a lot of negative connotations because of issues with nuclear radiation and radioactive decay, but there are different types of radiation that we generally regard as benign such as light and radio waves. Of course, all things in moderation ;)

And if by some chance anyone was swayed by that spam mail about microwaved water killing plants, please see: http://www.snopes.com/science/microwave/plants.asp Even if the experiment was true, it’s a very poor excuse for a scientific experiment, as it lacks proper controls and the number of subjects is ridiculously low. The fact that so many people would give up their microwaves after reading that email — yes, including people I know personally — astounds me.

How useful one is depends a lot on on what you like to eat and what functions it has. Some do slice, dice, and chop — plus do other things that a blender does.

I just have a small blender, but I really like it. I use my Tribest blender to purée a lot of things. I make guacamole, salsa, gazpacho soup, hummus, and a lot of other things like that. Some people use them to grind coffee, crush ice, make smoothies, make apple sauce, make nut butter, etc.

If I did more slicing and chopping, I might get a full function food processor, but right now, the blender I have does more than enough.

My cheap (read: not frugal, but CHEAP) ex boyfriend had these disgusting old pans and cookie sheets when we first got together. It was quite clear to me that they were dollar store finds from 3 or 4 years ago and they were flat out gross (you could see the burn marks from cookies past). I’d rather have the $4 airbake cookie sheet that’s going to last me 20 years than have to buy $1 pieces of crap that burn stuff every 3 years.

http://www.yinvsyang.com

Microwaves heat with friction: they speed up the molecules of the food, which generates friction, and finally, heat. They don’t, however, change the molecular structure of food.

Plastic containers are known to generate hazardous substances–ones we can’t even see. Heating foods in plastic containers also heats up the plastic, which in turn can give off hazardous gases. It’s best when using a microwave to use glass or ceramic cookware.

@ Brent: There are some great microwave cookbooks. One I own is called Easy Livin’ Low Calorie Microwave Cooking, by Karen Kangas Dwyer.

Some super-easy things to cook in the microwave are fish (the easiest), ground beef dishes (Mexican casseroles, spinach lasagne), and of course soften butter at 10% power for 2 minutes for one stick.

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/05/nine-ways-to-maximize-your-personal-hygiene-dollars/

HAHAHAHAHA! That’s why you should always wear your tinfoil hat while operating a microwave (or using a cellphone).

Actually, I am looking at a cast iron baking pan, and/or a larger flat cast iron griddle that I can also use for baking. If you want cheap and durable, cast iron is the best. I can get buy with my cast iron skillet, my cast iron dutch oven, and my stainless steel stock pot for my cooking utensils.